1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to wearable bands, such as wristbands, chokers, and anklets, that are adjustable in size, and, more particularly, to wearable band assemblies that include an interchangeable identification member or element and a multi-sizing mechanism that allows the band to be sized in a tool-less manner by a user or wearer through the use of interlocking layers or differing band elements that can be combined to define the size (or length) of a band.
2. Relevant Background
Bands including wristbands are worn in numerous settings. For example, watches have typically been worn on a wrist through the use of a wristband. In hospitals, patients often are provided an identification bracelet, strap, or band that they wear on their wrist. An amusement or theme park may provide a visitor or guest with a wristband that includes identification information or technology (e.g., a readable bar code, a radio frequency identification (RFID) transceiver, or the like) that identifies the visitor and allows the visitor to access the park's facilities. Often, bands are worn as fashion accessories or to allow the wearer to make a statement (e.g., to support a cause such as medical research, a political candidate, a sports team, or the like). It is likely that the demand for wearable bands such as wristbands will continue to grow in the coming years.
One ongoing challenge for the makers of wristbands and other wearable bands is providing proper sizing for the end users. For example, most multi-size wristwatches include a first band portion that is attached at a first end to the timepiece and at a second end may have a number of spaced apart holes. A second band portion is attached at its first end to the timepiece and at its second end may contain a buckle-style clasp mechanism for mating with the holes of the first band portion. A person uses the clasp mechanism to both size the band about their wrist and to also lock the timepiece to their wrist.
The wristwatches are multi-size in that the spaced apart holes allow the same wristwatch to be worn by a set of people whose wrists have a size that falls within a predefined range (e.g., a minimum and maximum sized wrist diameter defined by the first and last hole on the band). However, people outside this predefined range would not be able to wear the wristwatch, and the wristwatch manufacturer either simply loses these sales or may provide additional wristwatches that have different size ranges to suit these other buyers. Unfortunately, this requires added inventory that may or may not be sold. Some efforts have been made to provide band designs that allow the band to be sized for a particular person, but these designs typically require specialized tools to adjust the band and are expensive to manufacture. In other cases, a band selected for a user to match their wrist size may be attached to the timepiece, but, again, this typically requires a special tool for attachment of the band to the timepiece and may require the buyer to have the watch sized by a trained technician.
As another example of the use of wearable bands, RFID wristbands are commonly used in hospitals and entertainment venues to identify individual patients and guests. The wristband may include or provide a link to a variety of information such as the person's name, their room number, a seating location for a show, entitlements permitted in the hospital or venue, and so on. The wristband is often designed to be secured or locked onto the wrist of the person during their stay at the hospital or participation in an entertainment event.
While these wristbands have been useful in identifying the patients and guests, their design has typically not effectively accommodated the wide range of users' wrists, which has resulted in many users having very loose bands or having too tight and uncomfortable fitting wristbands. Additionally, many wristband designs use either an adhesive closure that is peeled away from the wristband or a separate, one-time plastic snap closure. The adhesive closures sometimes do not provide the closing strength desired and, once removed, cannot be worn again. The plastic snap closures provide greater closing strength but often are intentionally designed for one time use, which limits use of these bands on an ongoing or repeated basis. Further, the snap closures often do not support a large enough range of wrist sizes such that they are often too tight or cannot be worn comfortably or are too loose which may allow them to fall off.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a low cost, multi-sizing mechanism for RFID wristbands and other wearable bands or straps. The band designs preferably would have durable opening and closing features to allow reuse of the band and would support relatively inexpensive manufacture from a variety of available materials such as plastics, silicones, metals, leathers, cloths, and/or other materials used presently (and in the future) for wearable bands. Further, there is a need for such a multi-sizing mechanism to be more fully adjustable to the wearer's wrist size, to provide a secure fastening mechanism that during regular wear can be fastened and unfastened by the wearer with ease, and to provide an aesthetic appearance that accommodates different wrist sizes within a large audience or wearer demographic.